Toyota announced Thursday that its partnership with a recycling company will allow for hybrid and electric car batteries to be made from materials from old batteries.

Redwood Materials issued its goal to provide at least a minimum of 20% recycled nickel, 20% recycled lithium, 50% recycled cobalt, and 100% recycled copper in new batteries' cathodes and anode copper foils, according to a statement released Thursday. The company referred to the resulting battery as "the most sustainable battery components available for [Toyota's] new EVs."

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"We believe this represents the first time that an automaker is both recycling end of life hybrid electric vehicle batteries, like those used in the Toyota Prius, and then returning those same recycled metals into that same automaker’s batteries for use in future electrified and all-electric vehicle," Redwood Materials said.

The first Prius was released in 2003 and is approaching the end of its intended life cycle. Redwood Materials will be pulling from a fleet sent from California to the company's facility in Nevada.

This announcement comes a year after the automaker marketed its 2023 Prius as "an EV with an engine."

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Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda has remained skeptical that electric vehicles are the only solution for carbon neutrality. As a result, he has said that the company will sell a variety of vehicles.

Toyoda's move away from electric vehicles comes from experience as Toyota's first mass-produced battery electric vehicle, the bZ4X crossover, was recalled last year over a loose wheel.